Chapter 100

"Master, quickly add the medicine, if you don't hurry, this pill will be ruined," Lu Xiaodeng anxiously jumped around, pointing at the Ruyi Tian Pill Furnace and shouting.

Yu Xiudan felt the fire was not quite right; this subtle point had always been difficult for him to grasp, and it was the most important aspect for a pill master. If he had found a good master, he could have received some guidance, but otherwise, he could only learn on his own.

Lu Xiaodeng quickly pushed him, not caring that he was her master, and shouted loudly, "Hurry up!"

Sighing inwardly, Yu Xiudan had no choice but to throw in the next batch of spiritual herbs and immediately cover the furnace, focusing entirely on refining the medicinal liquid. He had thought it was too early, but found that the spiritual herbs seemed to have a life of their own, melting into the fire like wax. Surprised and delighted, he heard Lu Xiaodeng say, "Master, form the pill."

This time, he did not hesitate, quickly mixing the medicinal liquids together. It was like water flowing into a channel, the two streams of liquid holding hands and merging. After refining with his primordial spirit fire and dividing the pill as Lu Xiaodeng reminded him, three Lixi Pills appeared in the furnace.

Opening the furnace lid, Yu Xiudan used his divine sense to take out the three still warm pills. He was not surprised but rather stunned. The pill-making process had not been arduous but rather an enjoyment.

Although he enjoyed pill-making, he had always savored the feeling of success when the pill was complete. Now, for the first time, he understood the meaning of the phrase in the pill book: "Pill-making is like refining oneself." Not only was the process of making the pill very comfortable, but it also put him into a cultivation state, as if the pill was being refined inside his body.

Staring at the Lixi Pills in his hand for a long time, Yu Xiudan looked at the dazed Lu Xiaodeng and suddenly bowed deeply to her. This frightened Lu Xiaodeng, who quickly jumped to the side and said in surprise, "Master, what are you doing? You're not some inexperienced person. Just making three third-grade pills at once, you don't need to be this happy, it's like you've lost your mind."

Yu Xiudan, who had always thought that teaching was being a master, was speechless at her words. He sighed deeply, "I have been striving for pill-making all my life, but I never realized that what I made before were not pills, just medicines. Today, I finally understand what the Way of Pills is, and I feel completely refreshed. All of this is because of you."

"Master, what is the Way of Pills?" Lu Xiaodeng looked at him blankly. The Way of Pills seemed to be something cultivators talked about all the time, as if walking any other path was impossible. If there were two different paths, couldn't you just cross over to the other one?

"You don't know the Way of Pills?" Yu Xiudan almost wanted to spit blood. He suddenly remembered that she had forgotten everything, and perhaps she was not even the original soul. He wanted to explain, hoping that Xiaodeng might remember something, but he had just entered the gate of the Way of Pills and did not know how to describe his enlightenment, so he gave up.

He frowned and said, puzzled, "Xiaodeng, you don't have divine sense. How do you know the condition of the pills in the furnace? How do you know when to add the herbs, mix, form the pill, and divide it?"

Yu Xiudan initially did not believe her because she did not have divine sense. How could she know the situation inside such a large furnace? But now, she had not made a single mistake, which was very strange.

Lu Xiaodeng found it hard to explain. She could vaguely sense the situation of the pill-making in the furnace just by standing beside it. Although the furnace did not have a spirit, it was still a mystic-grade magical treasure, and she could feel its sensations.

Whenever there was a change in the refining process, she could faintly sense its fluctuations, whether it was joy or anxiety.

After thinking for a moment, she said, "Master, it's not just magical treasures with spirits that can communicate with people. I can feel the mood of the Ruyi Tian Pill Furnace. It has emotions when it's refining pills. You should be kind to it, and eventually, it will develop a spirit."

This vague answer drew Yu Xiudan's gaze to the Ruyi Tian Pill Furnace. Even without a spirit, such a furnace had its own emotions and sensations... that was the initial form of a spirit. As long as he could sense it and then provide it with a good soul to absorb, he could gradually cultivate its own spirit.

His gaze became particularly serious as he took out another batch of spiritual herbs and said solemnly, "Xiaodeng, let's refine another batch."

"Okay, let's do it," Lu Xiaodeng nodded. To learn pill-making, she naturally needed to practice more. She couldn't just stand by and give instructions.

The sun and moon rose and set, snow fell, and the entire Yunjian Sect was covered in thick snow. Only some of the less cold-resistant medicinal fields were protected by barriers to keep the snow away. A year and a half had passed, and after losing Lu Dan, the Tian Pill Peak had long since returned to peace.

Under Lu Xiaodeng's unreliable guidance, Yu Xiudan's pill-making skills rapidly improved. He had not learned high-grade pill-making techniques, but through this haphazard method, he had actually raised his primordial spirit fire to a higher grade, turning it pure orange.

He locked himself in the pill room, holding the Ruyi Tian Pill Furnace and weeping. Without a master from a pill sect and without high-grade pill-making techniques, he had forcefully broken through the red boundary of his primordial spirit fire to reach yellow. For a pill master, yellow primordial spirit fire was a symbol of status, and with it, he was a true pill master.

In the past few years, he had gone from the brink of death at the late Foundation Establishment stage to the Golden Core stage, and now his pill-making skills had advanced rapidly, even his primordial spirit fire had advanced. Yu Xiudan was filled with mixed emotions. The world was indeed unpredictable, and things could change at any moment.

Lu Xiaodeng was outside the pill room, making a few fist-sized snowballs from the accumulated snow and placing them on the ground, crossing her arms and muttering to herself, "Master actually kicked me out, saying he won't refine pills today. How can a master be so lazy? Next time, I'll make him refine such a large pill, hmpf."

Yu Xiudan was hugging the furnace and crying, with no time to refine any pills. He needed to savor this moment. He had finally given her a day off, and she was already complaining.

With nothing to do, she pulled her pointed rabbit fur cloak tighter around her and went to find Lu Yaohang. With such heavy snow, there wouldn't be much to do in the hall, so she could play with her senior sister.

Lu Yaohang was in the executive hall of the Tian Pill Hall. There was indeed not much to do today, and she was carefully reading a book that Tuo Bozhen had brought back from his travels.

It recorded the top 100 treasures on the Zhenzhen List. She flipped directly to the seventh place and found that it was a set of swords. She continued reading and found the previous treasure that had been in seventh place, which was written in red and very prominent: the Wicked Thousand Souls Ash Cauldron.

Reading the introduction, she was stunned, her eyes wide with disbelief. If it weren't for the name being spoken by Lu Xiaodeng herself, she wouldn't have believed it was her true form.

"Senior Sister, let's go pick snow peaches, okay? Master said he won't refine pills today. He's too lazy when it's cold, it's really unacceptable," Lu Xiaodeng suddenly appeared at the door, scaring Lu Yaohang so much that she snapped the book shut and looked at her in panic.

Lu Xiaodeng stood at the door, looking at her in confusion, "Senior Sister, what's wrong? What were you reading that made you so engrossed?"

"Nothing, just some stories about evil cultivators doing bad things, like using people to refine pills. I was so engrossed that you scared me when you came in," Lu Yaohang had recovered her composure and put the book away in her sleeve.

"Using people to refine pills? Those evil cultivators must be crazy. How can you eat something like that?" Lu Xiaodeng said disdainfully. If any cauldron were used to refine such pills, it would be too pitiful.

Lu Yaohang took a deep breath and smiled faintly, "Yes, it's impossible to eat."

"Senior Sister, in three months, there will be a cultivation test. Master said he will refine a good pill and take it to the Nine States Pill Meeting next month to surprise everyone. He's also taking me, and you'll definitely go, right?" Lu Xiaodeng sat down at the table and said with a smile.

"This is an opportunity for our Yunjian Sect to gain fame and for the Tian Pill Peak to recruit more disciples. If we perform well this time, we can attract many talented disciples, which will make my job much easier." This pill meeting was very important, and there could be no mistakes. However, she was worried that someone might cause trouble.

The Void Sect had come to the Yunjian Sect just three days after the incident, demanding the return of their disciples. When they heard that the disciples had already left, they insisted that the disciples and their ship had disappeared. They claimed that since the disappearance occurred within the Yunjian Sect's territory, the Yunjian Sect must hand over the people.

The sect leader naturally denied it, and the Void Sect secretly investigated. Everyone said they had seen Teng Tai and the others leave in a spirit ship and had never been seen again. These cultivators all had cultivation, so where could they have gone?

But the Void Sect persisted, and Lian Jing, pretending to be very concerned, sent a large number of disciples to search for the missing people. They searched for over fifty days without any news, even checking the place where the incident had occurred.

The Void Sect people felt something was amiss when they saw the ground barren, clearly poisoned to destroy all evidence. Thinking of the lively Lu Xiaodeng they had seen in the Yunjian Sect, they knew the plan had been exposed, and the people must have been killed by the Yunjian Sect.

But without any evidence, they argued for three months before finally leaving in anger. Apart from the sect leader and the Black Path Hall master, no one else knew what had happened. The other disciples and peak masters and elders all felt wronged. What did this have to do with the Yunjian Sect? How could they be blamed for something they didn't do?

Everyone hated the Void Sect, and they even warned the disciples not to associate with them, fearing they might do something shameless.